The black Rolls Royce parked in front of the entrance set the tone last night. “It looks like a hearse” said Leni, ex Bootleggers. Not a good omen. Out back, the Italianate fountain (below) was festooned with Aston Martins. All very Jimmy Savile or creeping Mr. Min on the pull for Pol Roger.

Peering into one was Rijk Melck, although now that his locks have been shorn, a convertible should have smaller appeal. But which ever way you cut it, last night’s Stellenbosch at Summer Place jol was more Summer Place and the camp ghost of Marino Chiavelli than Oak City. No acrid barbecue smoke and perhaps more importantly, no snoek. But then there was no ♥♥♥♥♥  Morgenster White Blend 2011 with which to wash it down as only 3000 bottles were made and they’re long sold out, said Henry Kotze.

The previous  night’s tasters were strange, confided Emil den Dulk over a pour of his majestic ♥♥♥♥♥ Fusion V 2010. “The one guy kept hitching up his trousers to show his Prada shoes and was telling us about his farm in the Hemel & Aarde Valley.” No, it was not the chairman of PSG Financial who recently did his own wine show at the Saxon Hotel. Maybe Johannesburg is all about appearances, in which case Summer Place fits the bill like an old pair of Manolo Blahniks.